"I Advise, You Decide": How Academic Advisors Shape Community College Students' Enrollment and Credit Load Decisions

Abstract

Academic advising has been described as the second-most important function in the community college (behind only instruction) toward helping students achieve their goals. Using interview data from 78 students and 33 advisors at one of the nation’s largest and most racially diverse community college systems, our qualitative case study examined how academic advisors inform, and directly influence, students’ enrollment decisions. Advisors emphasized their role as supporting and scaffolding student decision-making, but not making decisions for students. Most advisors endorsed a developmental approach focused on building students’ knowledge and capacity to make better decisions about their own academic trajectory. However, some students had conflicting expectations of the advising relationship (e.g., advisors should tell them exactly what to study, which courses and how many to take), which resulted in frustration and desires for highly prescriptive advising.